Search Results

Benedictine abbey on the River Enns in Styria, Austria. It was founded in the mid-11th century by Bishop Gebhard from Salzburg, endowed by St Henna von Gurk, Gräfin von Friessach (d 1045), and settled by Benedictine monks from St Peter’s, Salzburg under Abbot Isingrin. The Romanesque minster (consecrated 1074), which was dedicated to St Blaise, was famous for its marble columns and was rebuilt after a fire in 1152; a Gothic choir was added in 1276–86. The present church incorporates Romanesque side doors as well as other fragments. The abbey became an important cultural centre with a renowned scriptorium. Amongst the many famous scholars there was Abbot Engelbert of Admont (reg 1297–1327). From 1121 to the 16th century a convent was attached to the abbey. Under the abbots Mathias Preininger (reg 1615–28) and Urban Weber (reg 1628–59) the whole establishment was transformed in the Baroque style, and the church was rebuilt (...

Cistercian abbey in Portugal. The abbey, dedicated to S Maria, was founded as part of the policy of repopulation and territorial improvement of the first king of Portugal, Alfonso I (reg 1139–85), who in 1152 granted a large area of land to St Bernard of Clairvaux by a charter known as the Carta dos Coutos (Lisbon, Arquiv. N.). Work on the monastery started in 1158 and adhered to the rigid precepts of the Order. Although the exterior was extended and altered in the 17th and 18th centuries, especially the Baroque façade of the church, the interior essentially preserves its original Early Gothic appearance.

(b Pfarrkirchen, Upper Bavaria, c. 1660; d Augsburg, Jan 31, 1738).

German sculptor. He was the son of the sculptor Johann Christian Bendl, with whom he trained. Having become a journeyman, he travelled for six years, probably to Bohemia and Venice. On his return he entered in 1684 the workshop in Augsburg of Johann Jakob Rill (fl c. 1686–99); on 26 November 1687 he was made a master and also became a citizen of Augsburg. He was the city’s leading sculptor during the late Baroque period; many important churches in and outside of Augsburg had sculptures by him. He worked mostly in wood, but also in stone, terracotta and stucco, and probably in ivory and metal as well. For jewellers and goldsmiths he produced models, such as a figure of St Sebastian (1714–15) and a crucifix (1716). His major work included two series of life-size statues: one, of the Apostles, for St Moritz and the other, of the ...

[Manuel de Sousa]

(b Braga, c. 1650; d Tibães, 1716).

Portuguese sculptor. He was born to a family of craftsmen and later entered one of the many workshops of wood-carvers in Braga. In 1676, however, he entered the Benedictine order at its Portuguese mother house of Tibães, near Braga. Here he made statues and reliefs for the church of S Martinho. From this period date his St Benedict and St Gregory the Great and the relief of the Visitation, now in the Benedictine church, S Romão do Neiva. Between 1680 and 1683, during the abbotship of Frei João Osório, he made terracotta sculptures of the eight Virtues and the four Benedictine kings (Tibães, Sacristy), images that appear rather rigid and stereotyped.

Frei Cipriano da Cruz moved to Coimbra before July 1691, when it is recorded that he made the St Catherine in the chapel of the University of Coimbra. This contact with the main centre for sculpture in Portugal had a broadening effect on his art. His most important work outside Tibães is the group of serene and dignified sculptures (dispersed) that he made for the Colégio de S Bento (Benedict), Coimbra. This group includes his gilt and polychromed wooden ...

Benedictine abbey and Marian pilgrimage site c. 35 km south-east of Zurich, in the canton of Schwyz, Switzerland. The original abbey, on the site of the martyrdom of St Meinrad (ad 861), was founded in 934 by Eberhard, provost of Strasbourg Cathedral. The abbey church (consecrated 948) burnt down in 1029 in the first of a series of fires. A new building, erected in 1039, was divided in the middle by twin towers into an upper and lower minster, corresponding to the respective requirements of monks and pilgrims. Baroque rebuilding started in 1674, when Johann Georg Kuen began work on a new monks’ choir and a confessional chapel for the upper minster (completed 1684).

Plans for reconstructing the upper minster, then the rest of the church and finally the whole abbey were commissioned in 1702 from Caspar Moosbrugger, a lay brother of the abbey who had worked as a mason under Kuen. The work was carried out between ...

Family of builders and masons of Italian origin, active in Portugal. Giovanni Battista Garbo (b ?Milan,fl 1670; d ?Lisbon) went to work in Lisbon c. 1670 for the Jesuits at São Antão (now the chapel of the hospital of São José) and perhaps also for the church of Nossa Senhora de Loreto. His son Carlos Baptista Garbo (d Mafra, 1725) was trained in the same skills of masonry at São Antão, and he also became a designer of altarpieces. The high altar with marble mosaic for the old Jesuit church, now the seminary, Santarém, was designed by Carlos Baptista along 17th-century lines and made in 1713 in the workshops of São Antão. It was here that his son António Baptista Garbo (b Lisbon, 1692; d ?Lisbon) was trained and also worked in the service of the Jesuits.

The ability of the Garbo family is most visible at Mafra, where Carlos Baptista superintended the construction of the vast palace, church and convent, following the plans of ...

(b Prague, bapt Dec 4, 1717; d Prague, June 17, 1767).

Bohemian painter. He was the son of the painter Kristián Grund (c. 1686–1751) and brother to the painters František Karel Grund (1721–43), Petr Pavel Christian Grund (1722–84)—also a violin virtuoso—and the harpist Jan Eustach Grund. He learnt painting with his father, who released him from his apprenticeship in 1737. Subsequently he lived in Vienna and then perhaps in Germany; he probably knew his great models, Watteau, Nicolas Lancret and Francesco Guardi, only from engravings.

Grund’s work consists of a rather confused range of small pictures, embodying almost all genres in which landscapes or dwellings include figures. He painted scenes from myths, the Bible, legends and battles; he depicted love scenes, the theatre, storms at sea, visits to ruins, studios etc. Although the human figures always endow his pictures with a light touch, often there is an implicitly deeper allegorical meaning. His paintings from the 1740s are marked by a heavy Late Baroque colour scheme, in the 1750s by fragile Rococo shades; later he accomplished a smooth transition to a classicist realism. The popularity of his works in aristocratic and bourgeois circles is underlined by reproductions by ...

Cistercian abbey in the Vienna Woods, Lower Austria. Heiligenkreuz, the oldest Cistercian abbey in the region once ruled by the house of Babenberg, was founded in 1135 by Margrave Leopold III of Austria (reg 1096–1136). It was settled with monks from Morimond Abbey in France, and a temporary building was consecrated in 1136. From the time of Leopold IV (reg 1136–41) Heiligenkreuz was the preferred burial place of the Babenbergs.

The nave of the church, begun before 1147 and consecrated in 1187, is an ashlar building, which at first had a flat ceiling. Excavations have shown that the original east end consisted of three apses without a transept. In 1147 Henry II (reg 1141–77) donated the village of Münchendorf and its revenues to the abbey, making it possible to vault the church, and a further endowment in 1156 enabled the monastic buildings to be rebuilt in stone. The five-bay aisled nave, the proportions of which are based on a module derived from the crossing square, has alternating supports. The aisles are groin-vaulted, but the main vessel has domical vaults with ribs of a plain, rectangular profile, the transverse arches resting on short pilasters corbelled above the arcade (...

Sanctuary complex at the birthplace of Ignatius Loyola near Azpeitia, Guipozcoa province, northern Spain. The Loyolas’ manor house (1387–1405), now known as the Santa Casa, was where Ignatius resolved to become a soldier of Christ, while recovering from wounds received at the siege of Pamplona (1521). It is a relatively simple building, 16 m square, and contains the chapel of the Conversion and that of the Immaculate Conception, with its interesting decoration (1904). In 1681 Mariana of Austria, widow of Philip IV, bought the house and gave it to the Jesuits, and in the same year she commissioned Carlo Fontana to design a college and church for the site. Construction began in 1689, but the church was not consecrated until 1738, and the ensemble was not completed until 1888. The complex is in the form of a large rectangle, with the circular church at centre front. Its dome is 21 m in diameter, with its keystone at a height of 56 m. It is fronted by a convex portico and monumental steps with two bell-towers flanking the building. The model for the church was probably S Maria dei Miracoli (begun ...

[Ger. Leubus

Former Cistercian abbey near Wrocław in Silesia, south-west Poland, one of the largest Baroque abbeys in central Europe (main complex: 223×118 m), situated south of Lubiąż village on the west bank of the Odra (Ger. Oder), surrounded by defence walls and moats, fields and woods. It was formerly also a centre of music. The abbey’s present imposing appearance is the result of a remodelling in 1681–1739. It was founded in 1163 as the first Cistercian abbey in Silesia by Boleslav I of Silesia (reg 1163–1201), who brought the Order from Pforta on Saal in Thuringia. The monks settled on the site, which c. 1150–63 had been occupied by Benedictines. The first Romanesque church is mentioned in a document of 1208, but the only element surviving from that building is a small column (c. 1230–40), originally a piscina, preserved in the choir. The capital is elaborately carved with bird and plant motifs and has traces of polychromy. In the late 13th century and the early 14th that church was replaced by the existing Gothic basilica with its rectangular ambulatory; a ducal burial chapel was added in ...

Town, 40 km from Lisbon, Portugal, entirely dwarfed by its palace-convent. In 1717 John V of Portugal, fulfilling a vow made in 1711, determined to rebuild a friary at Mafra for the Franciscans of Arrábida as thanks to God for the birth of a male heir. However, rather than housing about 13 members of the Order, as originally intended, the project dramatically expanded as the King appointed a vast team of workers. At its head was the German architect known in Portugal as João Frederico Ludovice, who had trained in Rome and had settled in Lisbon from 1701, and under him were the Milanese Carlos Baptista Garbo (fl 1698; d 1724), Custódio Vieira, Manuel da Maia and Ludovice’s son António. The King also sought information about religious buildings in Rome from the Portuguese ambassador there and took advice from the Marquês de Fontes.

Between the laying of the foundation stone (...

Benedictine abbey situated on a rocky ledge overlooking the River Danube in Lower Austria, halfway between Linz and Vienna. The Baroque pomp of the building is dramatically heightened by its romantic and picturesque setting. The abbey is the outcome of a creative partnership between the architect Jakob Prandtauer and the client Berthold Dietmayr, who was Abbot from 1700 to 1739 and had to overcome his Order’s aversion to worldly show to enable the scheme to proceed. The work was completed by Joseph Munggenast to Prandtauer’s plans.

The Babenberg Markgraf Leopold I (reg ad 976–94) conquered the original castle in 976 and made the site his principal residence. The earliest evidence of a collegiate church dates from 1014, when the remains of St Colman were taken to Melk. Monks of the Benedictine Order were moved there from Lambach in 1089 by Leopold II (reg 1075–96), whose son Leopold III (...

[Andreas]

(b Au im Bregenzerwald, May 15, 1656; d Einsiedeln, Aug 26, 1723).

German architect. He served his apprenticeship with Christian Thumb, completing it in 1673. In 1674 he began to work as a mason under Johann Georg Kuen (1642–91) on the construction of the new monks’ choir at the Benedictine abbey church at Einsiedeln. In 1682 he was admitted as a lay brother there and assumed the religious name of Caspar. He attained the grade of building expert and abbey architect, working as an adviser or architect for Einsiedeln and many other Benedictine abbeys in Switzerland and south Germany. He was largely self-taught in architectural theory and history, but his designs, especially those for Einsiedeln Abbey, bear witness to his knowledge of French and Italian architectural treatises, such as Augustin-Charles d’Aviler’s Cours d’architecture (Paris, 1693) and Andrea Pozzo’s Perspectiva pictorum et architectorum (Rome, 1693–1700). Moreover, numerous drawings by Moosbrugger survive (Lucerne, Burgerbib.), copied from Italian architectural treatises and engravings, for example, Sebastiano Serlio’s treatise on architecture, the ...

(b Seville, 1699; d ?Buenos Aires, 1784).

Spanish architect, active in Argentina. In 1741 he joined the Franciscan Order in Buenos Aires. When he took his vows it was noted that he was a ‘mason–architect’, and he worked in this capacity in Buenos Aires, Córdoba, and Salta. From 1730 he designed the vaulting for S Francisco, Buenos Aires, following the plans of the original architect Andrea Bianchi, who had begun it c. 1724. The dome (1752) of Córdoba Cathedral is attributed to Muñoz. As has been noted, it is a majestic cupola reminiscent of those of Toro Cathedral in Spain or the Old Cathedral in Salamanca (Spain). Its corner turrets are designed in the Romanesque style, although its skilful interplay of curves and counter-curves, onion-shaped crown, and base strengthened by a balustered ring are derived from Piedmontese Baroque (Gallardo). In 1754 Muñoz was involved in the construction of S Roque Chapel, Buenos Aires, designed by ...

Benedictine abbey, 16 km from Nördlingen, in the Swabian Alps, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It was founded in 1095 by Graf Hartmann I von Dillingen. Its first church was built in the 12th century, but in 1695, to mark the 600th anniversary of the monastery, the façade and interior were remodelled in the Baroque style, although the tower, built in 1617–26 by Peter Schwarz (d 1626) in a Romanesque style, was left unaltered. At the same time new service buildings were constructed, and in 1699–1726 new monastic quarters, designed by Michael Weidemann, were built. The final phase of building was the construction of a new church. A site on the northern edge of the monastic complex was prepared in 1745, before an architect had been selected.

In 1747 the abbot Aurelius Braisch engaged Balthasar Neumann to design the church, having been impressed by his Benedictine monastery church of Münsterschwarzach, begun in ...

Benedictine monastic complex founded in the 760s, situated 13 km south-east of Memmingen in Bavarian Swabia, Germany. The first major buildings of the monastery were completed under Abbot Rupert I (1104–45). In the 12th century and in the 13th the monastery had to be rebuilt after damage by fire, and it was again rebuilt during the 16th century. The first printing press in a German monastery was established at Ottobeuren in 1509, and a school was founded there in 1542. In 1711 imperial status (Reichsfreiheit) was granted under Abbot Rupert Ness and jurisdiction over 112 sq. km of territory with a population of 10,000. An expansive new monastery was begun to the designs of one of the monks, Father Christian Vogt, and the architect Simpert Kramer (1675–1753). Ness first solicited projects from Franz Beer, Johann Jakob Herkommer and Christian Thumb, assembling a broad range of design ideas while maintaining overall control. Vogt and Kramer constructed a huge rectangular building of three storeys containing an expansive abbot’s court and two conventual courts; the U-shaped complex of farm and shop buildings stands beyond a formal garden to the south. The former imperial status of Ottobeuren is expressed in its scale and the elaborate nature of its parts: projecting pavilions occupy the corners and centres of each wing, while a centralized abbot’s chapel distinguishes the centre of the north wing. Six major staircases and several smaller ones are distributed throughout the building, and wide, vaulted corridors, several more than 100 m long, extend from one end of it to the other. The library, theatre and imperial hall are lavishly decorated....

Carthusian monastery c. 22 km south-east of Segovia in the province of Madrid. It was the first Carthusian monastery in Spain, founded c. 1390 by John I of Castile (reg 1379–90) and generously endowed by him and his son Henry III (reg 1390–1406). Work began on the cells and other residential areas c. 1390 under the Toledan mason Rodrigo Alfonso. The church was begun in 1433 under the supervision of the Segovian Moor Abderrahman, but work on it seems to have been suspended in mid-century and was only resumed in the 1480s. The great cloister with its ogee vaults, the porch, and the vault over the chancel are probably by the Toledan architect Juan Guas. Gil de Hontañón family §(1) may also have worked there and may have designed the outer courtyards. The chapel of the Tabernacle behind the altar was begun in 1718 by Francisco Hurtado Izquierdo...

(b 1667; d Sønderborg, April 27, 1732).

German architect and administrator, active in Denmark. He was officially attached to the Danish court from 1687 and was sent by King Christian V (reg 1670–99) on a study trip to Italy and France in 1698 to perfect his knowledge of architecture, with the promise of being appointed Director of Works on his return. He was appointed to the position in 1705 and thereby became director of all building activity in Denmark. In 1706 he was appointed Marshal of the Court. During von Platen’s period in office a series of outstanding public buildings was erected in Copenhagen to designs by architects who worked under von Platen, including Johan Conrad Ernst (1666–1750), Ernst Brandenburger (d 1713) and Christoph Marselis (fl 1704–25). It is not possible to determine precisely von Platen’s involvement in these buildings, which are all expressions of the interest of King Frederick IV (...

(b Trento, Nov 30, 1642; d Vienna, Aug 31, 1709).

Italian painter, architect and stage designer. He was a brilliant quadratura painter, whose most celebrated works, such as the decoration of the church of S Ignazio in Rome, unite painting, architecture and sculpture in effects of overwhelming illusionism and are among the high-points of Baroque church art. He was a Jesuit lay brother and produced his most significant work for the Society of Jesus. This affiliation was fundamental to his conception of art and to his heightened awareness of the artist’s role as instrumental in proclaiming the faith and stimulating religious fervour. The methods he used were those of Counter-Reformation rhetoric, as represented in Ignatius Loyola’s Spirited Exercises (1548). His architectural works are eclectic, and his unconventional combination of varied sources led to bold experiments with both space and structure. His ideas were spread by his highly successful two-volume treatise, Perspectiva pictorum et architectorum (1693–1700).

He received his first artistic training in Trento, with a painter who appears to have worked in the studio of Palma Giovane. He then studied with an unidentifiable pupil of, among others, Andrea Sacchi, who would have been the first to instruct Pozzo in the art of the Roman High Baroque, and he followed this painter to Como and Milan. In Milan Pozzo joined the Society of Jesus on ...

(Rome)

Massimiliano David

Situated at the end of the Esquiline Hill and formerly known as S Maria ad Praesepem, S Maria Maggiore was traditionally founded by Pope Liberius (reg 352–66) and financed by Johannes, a rich citizen, after a miraculous summer snowfall. It is more likely, however, that it was founded in the early 5th century by Sixtus III, whose name appears in the mosaics of the triumphal arch in front of the apse. The church had a nave and aisles, the nave more than twice as wide as the aisles, and there was a single apse. Monolithic Ionic columns supporting a continuous entablature divided the nave from the aisles; above these, clerestory windows corresponded to the intercolumniations below. The windows were flanked by Corinthian pilasters aligned over the Ionic columns of the colonnade, and these were inset with a double tier of stucco colonnettes with fluting that spiralled right and left. Beneath each window was an aedicule encasing a mosaic panel....